SMCC's Christian Craanen makes All-State cross country for third time

BROOKLYN – Christian Craanen was third in the state last year.He had hoped to climb the ladder this season, but his body would not cooperate.The St. Mary Catholic Central junior aggravated a hip injury suffered over the summer a few weeks ago and was not healthy for the Division 3 state cross country finals at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, Nov. 7.“It’s tough running when every step hurts,” said SMCC coach Nick Eby. “It takes a lot of mental toughness to keep pushing.”More: Jefferson, Whiteford carry torch for Monroe County Region footballCraanen exhibited that toughness to earn All-State status by running 16:14 to take 27th place.“That was kind of his goal,” Eby said of Craanen making All-State for the third straight season.Erie Mason’s boys posted the Monroe County Region’s best team finish, taking 20th in Division 3. The New Boston Huron girls were 21st in Division 2 girls.A roundup of all of the Region runners follows.DIVISION 1Gibraltar Carlson’s Wyatt DelValle was the top Region finisher, taking 74th in the boys race.Cameron Varner placed 154th for Bedford and Monroe’s Gavin Rohr was 182nd.Region runners in the girls race were Audrey Grosteffon (109) and Iva Ravindra (220) of Bedford and Ada Cain (226) and Giada Fioritto (243) of Gibraltar Carlson.DIVISION 2The Region’s top performance came from New Boston Huron’s Cameron Crane. He ran 16:05.7 to place 37th, missing All-State honors by seven places.Airport and Jefferson were 25th and 27th, respectively, in the team standings.Running for Airport were Andrew Bell (133), Hunter Rodak (195), Hayden Bovair (200), Jacob Kuti (209), Axel Thompson (219), Everrett Kessell (248) and Grady Marino (250).Included in the Jefferson lineup were Mason Tulik (121), Carter Lee (179), Gabe Busen (216), Maddex Shotwell (237) Jonah Busen (239), Maxwell Burt (259) and Cody O’Hern (261).Mason Martin of Milan finished 193rd.New Boston Huron’s girls took 21st with Zoey Cheney, Grace Pacheco, Alexis White, Kayla Christesen, Isa Vargo, Lauren Marcon and Jennalynn Bronstein running 48-54-177-211-222-236-247.Individual runners for the girls were Claire Miller of Jefferson (97), Ella Baker of Airport (101) and Lana Benware (120) of Ida.DIVISION 3Erie Mason’s boys claimed 20th in the team standings.“The ran very well,” Mason coach Alison Meisner said. “We only had one PR, but they raced very well.”That PR came from Porter Ravary, who was 100th. Mason’s other runners were Caleb Healey (78), David Mills (150), Weston Albright (169), Joseph Colaluca (188), Carter Davis (245) and Aiden Healey (250).Whiteford’s Grant Rasor dropped five seconds from his personal best set last weekend to place 99th. Phineas Totten of SMCC was 149th.Mason’s Jaelynn Horton was the Region’s top girl in 107th.Whiteford had two runners in the finals Breslin Wing (140) and Braelynn Chiotti (171).DIVISION 4Summerfield was represented by three runners.Allison Ost placed 139th in the girls race and teammate Abby Ryamond was 191st.Colin Brown ran 173rd for the boys.This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: SMCC's Christian Craanen makes All-State cross country for third time